Trump Forges Anti-Cartel Coalition to Target Western Hemisphere Criminal Networks

Washington-led anti-cartel alliance supports sanctions on criminal organizations following Trump’s call for stronger measures.

US President Donald Trump vowed to deploy “unmatched military might” against drug cartels in the Western Hemisphere during a gathering of the Shield of the Americas coalition in New York City.

Meeting with leaders and foreign ministers of the anti-cartel alliance on Tuesday, Trump urged member nations to join the US in targeting 24 criminal organizations, which he previously labeled the “ISIS of the Western Hemisphere.”

He requested that “all nations in the Shield of the Americas formally designate narco-terrorists as common threats to stability and apply crushing sanctions” against these groups. The meeting occurred alongside the annual United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York City.

The coalition’s 15 member governments subsequently issued a joint statement announcing plans to impose asset freezes and visa restrictions on group members and supporters, alongside pursuing criminal charges.

Two groups top the list: Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), one of Central America’s most powerful criminal gangs, and Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang active in Colombia, Peru, and Chile. Both have been designated as “terrorist” organizations by Washington.

The list further includes major Mexican cartels, Colombian armed groups like the National Liberation Army, Brazil’s Primeiro Comando da Capital and Comando Vermelho, and Peru’s Shining Path.

Al Jazeera’s Alessandro Rampietti, reporting from Bogota, Colombia, noted the statement is largely symbolic for now, as each country must adhere to its own legal procedures.

“For instance, in Colombia, it requires a law to pass through Congress. The government has asked Congress to begin drafting such a law. While the consequences may not be immediate, this is a clear step toward building what the US aims to achieve in Latin America through this alliance,” he added.

The coalition comprises governments closely aligned with Trump, such as Argentina, Ecuador, and El Salvador, whose leaders he has endorsed. Colombia and Peru joined after Trump-aligned presidents took office recently.

Brazil and Mexico have declined to join.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, also present, praised “the emergence of strong leaders committed to tackling transnational terrorism.”

The gathering marks the administration’s latest push to rally the region around a more aggressive stance on drug trafficking. Since returning to office last year, Trump has labeled cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and authorized dozens of strikes on boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, which US officials claim were carrying narcotics to the US.

These strikes have killed over 223 people, and UN experts say they violate international law and could constitute crimes against humanity.

The Trump administration’s National Security Strategy, released late last year, outlined plans for a revamped Monroe Doctrine, the 19th-century policy asserting US primacy in the hemisphere that critics link to decades of US intervention.

Trump has also discussed retaking the Panama Canal and annexing Greenland and Canada. On Tuesday, he signed an agreement on Greenland that fell short of his demand for the island to become US territory.

This focus on the hemisphere has sparked concerns across the region.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, in his UN speech, criticized the approach, warning Latin American and Caribbean nations of “renewed hegemonic temptations.”

“Brazil is nobody’s backyard,” Lula stated.

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